South Andaman

South Andaman lies in the island chain between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Its wooded hills and indented coast were home to indigenous Andamanese communities long before European settlement. In 1789 the British East India Company established a naval station and penal settlement on Chatham Island beside its eastern shore. The station was later shifted north and abandoned within a few years, as disease took a heavy toll on its occupants.

The later city of Port Blair lies here.